Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com) is growing quickly and generating a lot of buzz lately as the hottest new social media channel. In fact, according to comScore, Pinterest saw more than 17.8 million unique visitors in February from U.S. and the average user now spends 98 minutes each month on Pinterest.
Despite the flurry of information out there for Pinterest users, here are four things marketers should be aware of when it comes to using Pinterest for their business.
1. Pinerly (http://www.pinerly.com). While Pinerly is not yet not open to the public, marketers can sign up for the wait list to receive an invite or use Pinerly’s referral process to snag an earlier invite.
Marketing Chops: Much like TweetDeck or HootSuite, Pinerly allows marketers to search for and follow Pinners with a particular interest, unfollow someone, organize and review popular pins, schedule Pins strategicially over time and view Pin stats (likes, repins, etc).
2. Analytics. PinReach is an influence and analytics tool that analyzes user activity and provides an influence score (the average is 29) regarding you profile activity. Moreover, marketers can use this free tool to review which Boards and Pins are most successful, and which are just not resonating.
Don’t Forget Google Analytics: For marketers using Google Analytics to monitor traffic and referral sources, the good news is that you can also use it to track referrals from Pinterest. The Referrals tab under the Traffic Sources section provides a high level look at how many referrals Pinterest or the mobile version of Pinterest have driven to your site. Also, consider setting up custom reports that will display performance statistics for individual pins.
3. Digital Buttons. Pinterest users are likely familiar with the Pin It button that allows users to grab images and Pin them to a board. But for marketers, there are a number of tools that can support your ability to gain new followers and more Pins.
New Tool: Wisestamp is a free service that now supports Pinterest by allowing users to add Follow Me buttons to their signatures or simply add a Pinterest icon next to other social icons like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Use this link to download an app that will allow you to add a Pinterest follow button to your signature: http://apps.wisestamp.com/emailapps/pinterest/
Also, while this is not “new”, marketers can take advantage of the free buttons on the Pinterest goodies page (http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/). Install follow buttons on relevant web pages, and strategically add a visible Pin It button that allows website visitors to pin key product images and application photos.
4. Updates to the Pinterest Personal Profile. Pinterest recently released an updated user profile page, and the new options provide a few tools marketers should take advantage of.
Description: Profile names are now at the top of the page (rather than on the side) and allow for a short description. For brands, this is an excellent opportunity to provide a succinct introduction that is clearly visible to Pinners viewing your content.
Edit Boards: Marketers can use the new “rearrange boards” function found next to the “Edit Profile” button to rearrange boards at will. This provides an opportunity to take make timely, seasonal or product related boards more or less visible when content will be of greatest interest to you followers, or when you need to improve awareness in one area.
